


The Serpent's Journey

by ssweeterthanhoneyy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Draco Malfoy, Auror Harry Potter, Auror Partners, Bisexual Disaster Harry Potter, Bisexual Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Angst, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Fluff, Drarry, Eventual Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, F/F, Gay Disaster Draco Malfoy, Gay Draco Malfoy, M/M, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Minor Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, No Smut, POV Draco Malfoy, POV Third Person Limited, Some Cursing, i love them but they aren't the focus of this fic, i'm a sucker for a good auror fic, ok there might be a hint of smut but not like SMUT SMUT, same goes for them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28137990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssweeterthanhoneyy/pseuds/ssweeterthanhoneyy
Summary: Draco Malfoy's life has been fucked up for years, but he never realized in all that time just how lonely he truly was. When he's accidentally partnered with Harry Potter on an Auror mission, he finds that maybe the Golden Boy isn't all pompous boasting and ridiculous hair. When it happens a second time, he begins to think that maybe the partnership wasn't an accident.In which Draco and Harry share many awkward moments, playful banter, and a handful of lingering touches and passionate kisses.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 10





	1. The one where Draco slips up, but then they forget about it because Harry is good at avoiding confrontation

“You’re so beautiful.”

Whoops.

Draco hadn’t meant to say it. The words had just slipped from his lips before he had a chance to think about it. Damn firewhisky. Why was he at Potter’s place anyway? At that exact moment, he couldn’t really remember. 

Potter stared at him in disbelief, his caramel skin flushed pink. Whether it was from the buzz of alcohol or plain embarrassment, Draco wasn’t sure.

After a tense moment that stretched on for years, Potter burst out laughing.

“You, Draconequis Malfoy, are officially insane.” 

“I didn’t- wait- Draconequis?” Draco took another sip of firewhisky despite having completely written the beverage off a mere moment ago.

“Is that-” Potter hiccoughed. “Is that not your full name?”

It was Draco’s turn to burst out laughing. “No! Why in Merlin’s left testicle would my full name be Draconequis?”

“You’re a stuck up rich boy, who knows what the hell your parents would be willing to name you?” Potter grinned. 

Draco shrugged, half agreeing with Potter. He did have a distant cousin that had been named Frogicia, after all.

Maybe it was from the fire that had hastily been lit in the fireplace when he’d arrived, or maybe it was from his close proximity to Potter, but Draco had begun to feel quite warm. He leaned closer to the other man anyway, just because he suddenly felt that he could. Potter made no complaints. The conversation was forgotten as they stared into each other’s eyes. 

How sappy, thought Draco.

The silence flowed on, but neither man seemed to notice it. 

“Harry James Potter!” A voice suddenly rang out through the living room, causing Draco to topple over, right into Potter’s lap.

“Oh! Oh my! Am I interrupting something?” Hermione Granger’s blushing face floated in the fire, which continued to crackle away merrily as if a magical moment hadn’t just been rudely interrupted. 

Draco scrambled off of Potter’s lap, ignoring the little voice in the back of his head that told him to stay there. 

“Er-” Potter’s face was glowing brighter than the fire. “No! Not at all… We were just, uh… ch- chillin’.”

“‘Chillin’?” Granger’s intensely unimpressed gaze nearly rivaled McGonagall’s.

“Yeah… chillin’.”

Draco snickered and Potter shot him a venom-filled glare.

“Right, then… I was just calling to remind you about Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow, er- and to tell you that you can bring a guest if you want.” Granger glanced at Draco, and he stared defiantly back at her. “Just maybe make sure whoever you bring is… amicable.”

Suddenly a loud noise erupted from the fireplace. Draco’s eyes widened in horror. Was- was Granger crying?!

His fears were relieved moments later when he realized that there were no tears on Granger’s face, and her head was now half pulled out of the fire.

“I better get going, Harry. Rose is crying again, she’s been-” Whatever Rose had been was cut off as Hermione fully pulled her head from the fireplace. The glow of the fire dimmed, and the room was thrust into silence. 

“How nice of Granger to be your personal calendar.” Draco drawled after a few moments. He hadn’t meant for his words to sound as condescending as they did, but it was hard not to fall back into old habits sometimes. Especially with Potter, and especially when he had been caught about to do- whatever it was that they were about to do- with his supposed enemy. Although lately, ever since they had worked on a case at the ministry together, they’d been more frenemies, possibly even bordering on friends.

And for a second there, they had possibly been bordering on something a bit more than that.

“How nice of you to be a snoot, as always.” Potter sighed, but there was no way he just called Draco a ‘snoot’ in a truly sincere manner. 

“Does she also remind you to tie your shoes and blow your nose before you go to work each morning?” 

“What- are you jealous?” 

“Jealous of you being a man-child? Yeah, no.”

That was possibly a bit too far, but Potter’s second-long look of hurt was quickly replaced with a low laugh. 

“Merlin, I have no idea who I’m going to bring to the Christmas Eve dinner. I almost regret coming out at last year’s, because now they’re gonna think I have double the options and still haven’t found a date.” Potter groaned.

“Aw, how sad. Meanwhile, I have absolutely 0 plans for Christmas Eve, nevermind Christmas day.” Draco hadn’t meant to expose himself like that, but his bitterness about going from a spoiled rich boy to a lonely rich boy still hadn’t faded completely, and it probably never would.

Potter looked genuinely surprised at this. “You... really have no one to spend Christmas with?” The level of pity in his voice was almost enough to make Draco Avada Kedavra him right then and there.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make it sound so sad, but yes, I haven’t got anyone that I shall be visiting for Christmas this year. Not after last year’s events…” Draco was about to swear off firewhisky again. He really needed to stop talking. 

“Last year’s-” Potter cut himself off. Probably trying not to seem nosy, but the seeds of the inquiry had already been planted.

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose. Despite not coming into this situation with many plans, this was not how he had wanted the night to go.

Not that he wanted it to go anywhere… promiscuous, so to speak. But he definitely had not wanted to unload his emotional baggage on Potter the very first time they’d met up outside of the workday. 

“‘S fine if you don’t want to talk about it.” It seems that Potter’s hand moved before he had time to think about it, because suddenly it was patting Draco’s thigh while Potter looked on in horror.

Draco’s eyebrows shot up, and Potter’s hand retracted. The silence promptly felt more charged. Draco simply felt confused. What was even going on?

“Thanks, I gu-” Draco began, as Potter said, “You know, Dra-” They laughed awkwardly and the silence stretched on for a few more moments.

“Er, you know, Malfoy. If you don’t have any plans for Christmas Eve, maybe you could… come with me to Ron’s parents’?”

Draco pondered this invitation. On one hand, he’d have to face the mortifying ordeal of apologizing for his past actions and showing everyone he’d changed for the better. On the other hand, if he didn’t join Potter for this little get-together, he would be spending Christmas Eve all alone, or perhaps at a sad little pub. 

“Why not, seeing as I don’t have any better parties to attend.” Potter shot him a look. “I mean, er- sure. Thank you, Potter.”


	2. The one where Draco goes to a Christmas Eve party and proves he’s not as much of a dick as he used to be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all :)

Christmas with the Weasleys was not something Draco had ever expected to experience. But there he was, sitting in a cramped living room, trying his hardest not to judge the state of their house. He was different now- at least that’s what he kept telling himself- but after 18 years of scoffing at the less fortunate, it was a bit hard not to cringe at the rugs with holes, the peeling wallpaper, and the stuffing that flew out of the sofa anytime someone sat on it.

He was doing pretty well, all things considered. He’d even gotten a small smile from Molly when he complimented the tea and cookies she had passed around. Out of everyone, he had expected the Weasley mother to hate him the most. But everything was going pretty smoothly.

Despite all this, Draco stuck by Potter’s side the whole night, despite feeling like a small child clinging to their mum’s leg. He wasn’t so sure Potter minded though.

He stood by as Potter chatted with Ginny and Luna, who had recently gotten engaged. He was happy for them, but also bored out of his mind by their wedding talk. Luna did manage to make it a bit more interesting with her frequent anecdotes about fantastical creatures, but Draco found his mind wandering. 

He surveyed the room. There were Weasley and Granger, with their kid sitting in between them on an overstuffed old couch. Longbottom was there too, with some girl Draco didn’t recognize. Then, of course all the other Weaselys were strewn haphazardly about the house with their respective guests and partners. Charlie had brought his “dog” along, which looked suspiciously like a disguised dragon. Draco’s doubts were confirmed when the “dog” breathed fire, and Charlie glanced around anxiously to check if anyone had seen. He caught Draco’s eye and shot him a pleading expression. Draco winked back. That was one of the best interactions he had with a Weasley the whole night.

Of course, some apologies were due. In fact, Draco spent most of his time at the party apologizing. Some guests were more forgiving than others, but in the end, he no longer felt like anyone there wanted to hex him to the moon. Yay for progress.

Dinner was served at 8:00 o’clock sharp. Molly ushered everyone into the dining room to fill up their plates with so many delicious dishes that Draco didn’t even know where to start. The table in there was only big enough for some of them to sit around, so everyone else headed out to the living room or their old bedrooms.

That was how Draco found himself alone with Potter in the twins’ old bedroom, stomach full of the best damn food he’d ever had, eyelids drooping a bit. They sat next to each other on the ground, leaning against the side of George’s old bed. A clock hidden somewhere in the mess of papers and failed gag gifts chimed 9 times. 

“We should probably head downstairs for presents.” Potter yawned.

“Mm. If you want to.” Personally, Draco was fine with staying upstairs for a while longer. His head was inching dangerously close to Potter’s shoulder, yet he couldn’t find it in himself to care all that much. He had, after all, called Potter beautiful the other night. Although, Potter seemed to have forgotten about it, or maybe he had just put the compliment down to too much alcohol. They hadn’t spoken about it since, and nothing seemed to have changed between them. That was always a good sign. 

“I already know what I’m going to get. Hermione’ll give me a book like always, and Ron will probably have gotten me something made of chocolate.” Potter somehow managed to sound grateful for these gifts, despite the dismissive manner in which he spoke about them. The man truly possessed a disgusting amount of kindness.

“I hadn’t thought to get anyone gifts.” Draco, with a tiny exhale, finally let his head droop down onto Potter’s shoulder. It was strange, the friendly atmosphere they had tentatively constructed over the past few months. Draco didn’t really understand the nature of it, and frequently felt he was going too far with his jokes or fleeting touches. Potter never seemed to object, though. Draco chose to take not talking about it at all as a good sign. 

“I don’t think they’ll mind. It is your first Weasley Christmas, after all.”

“First, implying there’ll be more?”

“You did a pretty good job of convincing everyone you’ve changed. Well, everyone besides Neville, but can you blame him?”

Draco cringed. “No, I suppose not.” He replied more sharply than he’d intended.

“Dra- Malfoy, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then I didn’t take it like that.”

Potter sighed. Silence, again. Not an uncomfortable one, but filled with enough tension to make Draco restless. He lifted his head from Potter’s shoulder. 

“Shall we head downstairs?”

\---

The next day, Draco awoke with a strangely giddy feeling in his stomach. He knew this was illogical, he still didn’t have anyone to spend Christmas with. Potter had slept over at the Weasleys’, but Draco had sensed that overnight privileges were reserved for family members only, so he quickly took his leave. He hadn’t wanted to overstay his welcome on the very first visit, and besides, he wasn’t sure he could take much more Christmas cheer. It was sweet, but frankly a bit overwhelming.

Draco was used to lavish Christmases in a drafty, oversized mansion. Sure, he had grand feasts and shared copious amounts of gifts with his family, but he’d never had a Christmas that felt… personal.

He shrugged off his emerald green comforter and stretched, wondering what to do with himself. He supposed he could owl Pansy and see what she was up to, but really, they’d lost touch ever since she went abroad to study. Or perhaps she’d simply left for a change of pace. She’d been pretty cryptic about her reasons for leaving England.

There was always Zabini, but again, they’d lost touch, this time from being at two completely different places in life. Zabini was running some sort of business now, he’d gotten married, and he had a kid on the way. Draco was still a 23 year old bachelor working a minimum-wage job at the ministry. Not that he needed the money, but he did need to have something to fill up his time. All he did at the ministry was organize files and stay out of trouble. He’d wanted to be an auror, but the ministry couldn’t have a past death-eater working to stop crime, now could they?

The only reason he’d gotten to work on a case with Potter was because their boss, Levelcraft, was a bit forgetful, and had confused some guy named Mallory with Malfoy. Potter tried to correct the mistake and tell Levelcraft that Draco was just a data manager, but Draco had practically begged him not to. It was... not his proudest moment.

They were assigned to investigate a wizard who was pretending to be a muggle magician at children’s birthday parties. It wasn’t the most exciting case, especially since they’d gotten the wrong address for “The Great Wizzini”’s house, and had spent weeks staking out some muggle accountant.

It had, however, given Draco and Potter a good amount of time to talk. They’d started out with so many snippy comments it was as if they were back at Hogwarts. It took them quite a while, but eventually they both realized that the other had changed since their school days, and they actually had a lot in common. 

It was during the last fruitless stakeout that Draco noticed how nice Potter’s eyes were.

The rest was history. Well, sort of. Not much progress had happened in their relationship since then. After Wizzini had gotten arrested for endangering the whole wizarding world, Draco and Potter had gone their separate ways.

They’d say hello to each other in the lift or the entrance hall at the Ministry, but besides that, they didn’t talk all that much. That is, until one fateful Christmas Eve Eve. Draco had worked up the courage to ask Potter out to lunch. Not as a date or anything, just to chat again. As much as he didn’t want to admit it to himself, Draco missed their chats. 

That had all culminated in their ending up back at Potter’s place, drinking and laughing and getting way too close together as they stared into each other’s eyes.

That had all culminated in Draco managing to make what he deemed as one of the worst decisions he’d ever gone through with: calling Potter “beautiful.”

And now here Draco was, going about his morning routine as if it were just another day, and not the supposed best day of the year. He hadn’t even received any presents. His mother would usually send him something by owl, but she’d been rather ill lately. His father…

Well, Draco wasn’t going to let his lack of anyone in his life destroy his Christmas. He would go out and get a festive coffee at the very least. Maybe he’d… ice skate? He still had no clue what one did by themself on Christmas day, but he’d be damned if he let it go to waste. It wasn’t even as if Christmas was that big of a deal to him, but it was the principal of the matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! More coming soon to an Ao3 near you!
> 
> I love comments! Feel free to post one of your own.


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